System for detecting the presence of harmful materials in an incoming mail stream

ABSTRACT

A system including a mailpiece sorting apparatus which includes a feeder, an OCR scanner, a mailpiece deliverer, a diverter and output module, compartments or bins for receiving sorted mailpieces, an optical character recognition system for reading addressee information, an addressee database, and microprocessor based control system is described. In an illustrative example, harmful materials are detected in mailpieces and such mailpieces are diverted from the mail stream. In another example, the system is contained in a detection area and clean room; and/or the system uses x-ray technology to determine the content of the mailpieces. The system provides for detection of harmful materials in mailpieces so as to help deter delays in incoming mail delivery caused by the presence of life harming material and to sanitize the mail so as to protect the intended recipients from harm.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Reference is made to commonly assigned co-pending patent applicationSer. No. 10/036,991 filed herewith titled SYSTEM FOR SANITIZING INCOMINGMAIL in the name of William Ryan et al.; Ser. No. 10/035,541 filedherewith titled SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR OUTSORTING SUSPECT MAIL FROM ANINCOMING MAIL STREAM in the name of William Ryan et al.; and Ser. No.10/035,546 filed herewith titled SYSTEM FOR SANITIZING AND SORTING MAILin the name of William Ryan et al.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention disclosed herein relates generally to automated mailsorting and more particularly, a system that detects the presence oflife harming materials in mailpieces.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The processing and handling of mailpieces consumes an enormous amount ofhuman and financial resources, particularly if the processing of themailpieces is done manually. The processing and handling of mailpiecesnot only takes place at the Postal Service, but also occurs at each andevery business or other site where communication via the mail deliverysystem is utilized. That is, various pieces of mail generated by aplurality of departments and individuals within a company need to beaddressed, collected, sorted and franked as part of the outgoing mailprocess. Additionally, incoming mail needs to be collected and sortedefficiently to ensure that it gets to the addressee (i.e. employee ordepartment) in a minimal amount of time. Since much of the documentationand information being conveyed through the mail system is critical innature relative to the success of a business, it is imperative that theprocessing and handling of both the incoming and outgoing mailpieces bedone efficiently and reliably so as not to negatively impact thefunctioning of the business.

Various services are used in the United States and other countries fordelivery of mail (incoming mail) to individuals and businesses torecipients to whom the sender does not want to deliver personally. Theseservices include, for example, the United States Postal Service (USPS)and other courier services, e.g., Federal Express®, Airborne®, UnitedParcel Service,® DHL®, etc., hereinafter called “carriers”.Unfortunately, sometimes the delivered materials may be illegal and/orhazardous to the health of the recipient and to the party who isdelivering the goods, e.g., life-harming. Examples of life-harmingmaterials are explosives; gun powder; blasting material; bombs;detonators; smokeless powder; radioactive materials; ammunition; atomicweapons; chemical compounds or any mechanical mixture containing anyoxidizing and combustible units, or other ingredients in suchproportions, quantities, or packing that ignite by fire, friction,concussion, percussion or detonation of any part thereof which may andis intended to cause an explosion; poisons; carcinogenic materials;caustic chemicals; hallucinogenic substances; illegal materials; drugsthat are illegal to sell and/or dispense; and substances which, becauseof their toxicity, magnification or concentration within biologicalchains, present a threat to biological life when exposed to theenvironment, etc.

Soon after the Sep. 11, 2001, terrorist attack on the United States,someone and/or a group of people, has been adding harmful biologicalagents to the mail. The addition of harmful biological agents to themail submitted to the USPS has caused the death of some people andnecessitated the closure of some post offices and other governmentoffice buildings and has caused delays in the sortation and delivery ofmail including the delivery of incoming mail to businesses. Individualswho receive and handle mail are encouraged to use safety precautionssuch as: washing their hands thoroughly with soap and water afterhandling mailpieces; avoiding shaking mailpieces; avoiding bumping orsniffing mailpieces; and avoiding handling of mailpieces suspected ofcontamination. These measures can be impractical when the volume of mailsuch as the incoming mail at a business is large. Thus, there is anurgent need to exclude or detect life-harming materials that areincluded in the mail in such a way that the delivery of the mail isefficient, reliable and safe and thus does not to negatively impact thefunctioning of the business.

Various automated mail handling machines have been developed forprocessing incoming mail (removing individual pieces of mail from astack and performing subsequent actions on each individual piece ofmail). Generally, the mail handling machines separate individualmailpieces from a stack, read the mailpieces using an optical characterrecognition (OCR) system and compare the read information to anaddressee database in order to determine the appropriate destinationpoints for delivery of the mailpieces. Previously, if a determinationcould not be made by the incoming mail handling machine as to theaddressee, a video image of the mailpiece was viewed by an operator andin the case where the addressee image was readable by the operator,addressee information was keyed into the system and associated with anidentification number for the mailpiece. The previously rejectedmailpieces are then resorted by reading the identification informationwhich can be printed on the mail during the first sort. Theidentification information is linked with the addressee informationmanually keyed in by the operator during the reject processing/videocoding sequence and is used to sort the mailpiece to the properdestination bin. Video processing of mailpieces has been performed aton-site video coding terminals or off-site video coding facilities wherethe video image is transmitted for determination of addressee by anoperator. The information is then transferred back to the sortingapparatus. These automated mail sorting apparatus do not contain theability to detect and/or sanitize mailpieces suspected of containinglife harming agents.

Thus, there is an urgent need to exclude or detect life-harmingmaterials that are included in the mail in such a way that the deliveryof the mail is efficient, reliable and safe and thus does not negativelyimpact the functioning of the business. Thus one of the problems of theprior art is that a system is not available for processing incoming mailand detecting and/or sanitizing mailpieces suspected of containing lifeharming agents. Therefore, a system and method of processing incomingmail is needed which integrates, prediction of harmful content,detection and/or sanitization with the mailpiece processing so as tohelp deter delays in incoming mail delivery caused by the presence orsuspected presence of life harming material and/or to detect and/orsanitize the mail so as to protect the intended recipients from harm.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

This invention overcomes the disadvantages of the prior art by providinga system of processing incoming mail which integrates detection withmailpiece processing so as to help deter delays in incoming maildelivery caused by the presence of life harming material and sanitizethe mail so as to protect the intended recipients from harm. This inturn affords for less delays in mailpiece processing.

The present invention is directed, in general to automated mailpiecesorting apparatus and more particularly, a system for detecting thepresence of harmful materials in a mailpiece. The system generallycomprises a mailpiece sorting apparatus which includes a feeder, anoptical character recognition system (OCR) scanner, a mailpiecedeliverer, a diverter and output module (or an integrateddiverter/stacker module), compartments or bins for receiving sortedmailpieces, an OCR system for reading addressee information, anaddressee database, and a personal computer (PC) or microprocessor basedcontrol system.

In an embodiment of the present invention, harmful materials aredetected in mailpieces and such mailpieces are diverted from the mailstream. In another embodiment of the present invention the system iscontained in a detection area and clean room. In another embodiment ofthe present invention the system uses x-ray technology to determine thecontent of the mailpieces.

An advantage of the present invention is that it provides a system fordecreasing delays in the mail delivery caused by the presence ofbiohazardous material in mailpieces. Another additional advantage of thepresent invention is that the negative impact of delayed mail deliveryis reduced. Other advantages of the invention will in part be obviousand will in part be apparent from the specification. The aforementionedadvantages are illustrative of the advantages of the various embodimentsof the present invention.

DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The above and other objects and advantages of the present invention willbe apparent upon consideration of the following detailed description,taken in conjunction with accompanying drawings, in which like referencecharacters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 a is a block diagram that illustrates a computer system withwhich an embodiment of the invention may be implemented or controlled;

FIG. 1 b illustrates the connection of the computer system to a mailsorting apparatus;

FIG. 1 c is a block diagram illustrating a four bin module which may bepart of the mailpiece sorting apparatus used to perform an embodiment ofthe present invention;

FIGS. 2 a–b illustrate exemplary suspect mailpieces;

FIGS. 2 c–d illustrate exemplary trusted mailpieces which include PitneyBowes postage indicia that includes origin information;

FIG. 3 is a drawing of a mailpiece containing a postal indicia that wasaffixed by an electronic meter;

FIG. 4 is a drawing of a mailpiece containing an Information-BasedIndicia;

FIGS. 5 a–e illustrates embodiments of the system of the presentinvention for sanitizing and sorting mail;

FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of the system of the present inventionfor sanitizing mail;

FIGS. 7 a–b illustrate an embodiment of the system of the presentinvention for detecting life harming substances in mail and divertingsuch mail from the mail stream;

FIGS. 8 a–b illustrates embodiments of the system of the presentinvention for detecting life harming substances in mail, through the useof x-ray, and diverting such mail from the mail stream;

FIGS. 9 a–b illustrate an embodiment of the system of the presentinvention for detecting or predicting suspect mailpieces in a mailstream and diverting such mailpieces from delivery; and

FIG. 9 c illustrates an embodiment of the method of the presentinvention for detecting or predicting suspect mailpieces in a mailstream and diverting such mailpieces from delivery.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PRESENT INVENTION

In describing the present invention, reference will be made herein toFIGS. 1–9 of the drawings in which like numerals refer to like featuresof the invention. Features of the invention are not necessarily shown toscale in the drawings.

Automated Mailpiece Sorting Apparatus Overview

FIG. 1 a is a block diagram that illustrates a computer system 100 withwhich an embodiment of the invention may be implemented. Computer system100 may be a personal computer which is used generically and refers topresent and future microprocessing systems with at least one processoroperatively coupled to user interface means, such as a display 102 andkeyboard 104, and/or a cursor control, such as a mouse or a trackball106, and storage media 108. The personal computer 100 may be aworkstation that is accessible by more than one user. The personalcomputer 100 also includes a conventional processor 110, such as aPentium® microprocessor manufactured by Intel, and conventional memorydevices such as hard drive 108, floppy drive(s) 112, and memory 114.

The computer system 100 can be connected to a sorting apparatus 8 asillustrated in FIG. 1 b. The mailpiece sorting apparatus 8 may generallycomprise a feeder 10, a line scan camera 14 (and optical characterrecognition (OCR) software, not shown), a mailpiece transporter 16, abin module 20 (shown in FIG. 1 c) with compartments or bins 18 forreceiving sorted mailpieces 30 and a control system 100 which may be themicroprocessor based personal computer system 100 described above. Thecomputer system 100 includes appropriate memory devices 108, 114 forstorage of information such as an address database 22. One of ordinaryskill in the art would be familiar with the general components of themail sorting apparatus 8.

The feeder 10 of mailpiece sorting apparatus 8 is designed to feedmailpieces of varying sizes, thicknesses and finishes and therefore, cansingulate and feed variously configured incoming mailpieces including,for example, envelopes of various sizes, mailpieces up to ¾ inchesthick, magazines, and variously configured small packages. The feeder'scapability to handle such various mailpieces make it well suited for thepresent invention because of the need to singulate and sort mail whichis of various sizes, thicknesses and finishes prior to additionalprocessing. Such mailpieces are difficult to feed with a typical feedingapparatus.

Exemplary aspects of the feeder 10 of the system of the presentinvention are disclosed in the following: U.S. Pat. No. 5,971,391,issued Oct. 26, 1999 to Salomon et al. titled NUDGER FOR A MAIL HANDLINGSYSTEM; U.S. Pat. No. 6,003,857, issued Dec. 21, 1999 to Salomon et al.titled SINGULATING APPARATUS FOR A MAIL HANDLING SYSTEM, U.S. Pat. No.6,135,441 issued Oct. 24, 2000 to Belec et al. titled TWO STAGE DOCUMENTSINGULATING APPARATUS FOR A MAIL HANDLING SYSTEM; U.S. Pat. No.6,217,020 issued Apr. 17, 2001 to Supron et al. titled METHOD ANDAPPARATUS FOR DETECTING PROPER MAILPIECE POSITION FOR FEEDING; and U.S.Pat. No. 6,328,300 issued Dec. 11, 2001 to Stefan et al. titled ALIGNERMECHANISM FOR A MAIL HANDLING SYSTEM and assigned to the assignee of thepresent invention and incorporated by reference herein.

The mailpiece sorting apparatus 8 and the OCR software may be used todetermine the addressee of the mailpiece 30 or other information on theface of the mailpiece 30. The reading of various information may beperformed with the assistance of intelligent character recognition (ICR)or imaging character recognition (OCR/IC) which may be part of the abovementioned OCR software and can read the various fields on the mailpiece30.

Suspect/Harmful Mailpieces

FIGS. 2 a–d illustrate various examples of suspect mail 30 a and trustedmail 30 b. FIGS. 2 a–b represent possibly suspect and/or harmfulmailpieces. The Postmaster General of the United States has sent amessage to postal customers across the country with criteria for suspectmailpieces. This United States Postal Service (USPS) criteriaincludes: 1) mail that is unexpected or from someone that you do notknow; 2) mail that is addressed to someone no longer at your address; 3)mail that is handwritten and has no return address or bears a returnaddress that cannot be confirmed; 4) mail that is lopsided or lumpy inappearance; 5) mail that is sealed with excessive amounts of tape; 6)mail that is marked with restrictive endorsements such as “personal” or“confidential”; and/or 7) mail that has excessive postage. The mailpieceof FIG. 2 a is a possible suspect mailpiece because it has excessivepostage 32 (i.e. multiple stamps), is addressed to an addressee 29 nolonger at the address, bears the marking PERSONAL & CONFIDENTIAL 33 andhas an unconfirmable return address 34 of SRT NEW YORK, N.Y. Themailpieces of FIG. 2 b is a possible suspect mailpiece because it bearsan unconfirmable return address 34 of PO BOX 14U, NEW YORK, N.Y.; isaddressed to an addressee 29 no longer at the address, and is sealedwith excessive amounts of tape 35.

In addition to the USPS criteria, Pitney Bowes, a company providing,leading-edge global, integrated mail and document management solutionsfor organizations of all sizes, and the assignee of the presentinvention, provides criteria at its web site www.pb.com. The criteriafor suspect mail includes: 1) packages with excessive postage, usingpostage stamps as opposed to meter indicia; 2) addresses which arepoorly typed or handwritten, and have misspellings; 3) packages whichhave oily stains, crystallization on wrapper or strange odors; 4) mailcontaining no return address or a return address not consistent withpostmark; 5) mail which is exceptionally large or is a lopsided package;6) a package which is rigid, bulky or discolored; 7) a package whichdisplays evidence of electrical wire or tin foil; 8) a package whichmakes a sloshing sounds or appear to contain liquid; and 9) packageswith excessive wrapping materials, such as masking tape, strapping tape,or string. Other organizations, such as law enforcement agencies orinvestigation authorities are also providing criteria for determiningsuspect mail including the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI).

FIGS. 2 c–d illustrate mail that is more trusted than those of FIGS. 2a–b. The mail 30 b is trusted because postage (indicia 36) has beenfixed to the mailpiece using a postage meter such as a Pitney Boweselectronic postage meter. Each Pitney Bowes postage meter imprint,includes, a tracking number that identifies the original point ofmailing so recipients of mail can feel more comfortable receiving themail since each piece has a unique fingerprint. Pitney Bowes Galaxydigital postage meters (not shown) can print indicia which includesvarious other information such as encrypted information in the indicia36 of FIGS. 2 c–d.

FIG. 3 is a drawing of a mailpiece containing a postal indicia that wasaffixed by an electronic meter. Mailpiece 30 has a recipient addressfield 29 and a sender address field 8. A postal indicia 36 is affixed tomailpiece 30. Indicia 36 contains a dollar amount 85; the date 86 thatpostal indicia 36 was affixed to mailpiece 30; the place 87 thatmailpiece 30 was mailed; the postal meter serial number 88; an eagle 83;a security code 89; and, a tracking number 7. Security code 89 andtracking number 90 are unique numbers that are derived from addressfield 29 and information contained in the postage meter that affixedindicia 36. The manner in which security code 89 and tracking number 90are obtained is disclosed in the Sansone, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,831,555titled UNSECURED POSTAGE APPLYING SYSTEM, assigned to the assignee ofthe present invention and herein incorporated by reference.

FIG. 4 is a drawing of a mailpiece 30 containing a indicia 37. Mailpiece30 has a recipient address field 29 and a sender address field 8.Mailpiece 30 contains USPS Information—Based Indicia (IBI) 37. TheUnited States Postal Service Engineering Center has published a noticeof proposed specification that describes a Information Based Indicia.The postal indicia 37 contains a dollar amount 93, the date 94, that thepostal indicia was affixed to mailpiece 30, the place 95 that mailpiece30 was mailed, the postal security device serial number 96, a FIM code97; a 2D encrypted bar code 98; and a tracking number 7. Serial number96 may be derived from bar code 98 or be equal to bar code 98. Bar code98 is a unique number that is derived from address field 29 andinformation contained in the postal security device that affixed IBI 37.The manner in which information contained in bar code 98 is obtained isdisclosed in the Sansone, et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,831,555 titledUNSECURED POSTAGE APPLYING SYSTEM, assigned to the assignee of thepresent invention and herein incorporated by reference. Mailpiece 30also contains an indication 38 of the class of mailpiece 30.

In addition to offering criteria for suspect mailpieces, Pitney Bowesoffers guide lines for mail security practices so that companies canestablish trust with their recipients. The guidelines include meteringyour mail such as with the Pitney Bowes indicia 36, using a clearidentifiable return address such as a printed logo 34 a, usingpostcards, avoiding sending samples, using tamper resistant seals, andusing tape printed with your company name to seal packages.

System for Sanitizing and/or Sorting Mail

FIGS. 5 a–e illustrates embodiments of the system the present inventionfor of sanitizing and sorting mail. FIG. 5 a is an embodiment of asystem 150 of the present invention for sanitizing and sortingmailpieces (referred to generally as mail or mailpieces 30 and includesmailpieces of various thicknesses and sizes such as mailpieces in anincoming mail stream). The system 150 of the present invention includesa feeder 10 for feeding mailpieces 30 (not shown) from a stack, asingulator 12 for separating mailpieces, a sanitizer 13 for sanitizingmailpieces (sanitization can include for example killing biohazardousmaterial in mailpieces 30 by means of microwave technology, irradiation,ultraviolet light, ozone, chemical mist or other technology that willkill the biohazardous material in the mailpiece without harming theletter/material content of the mailpiece). Many sanitizationtechnologies can only sanitize objects of relatively slim thicknesses,therefore, by the present invention mailpieces are singulated prior topassing through sanitization area 44. The system 150 further includes atransporter 16, a scanner 14 (such as a scanner for an optical characterrecognition (OCR) system), a control system 100 (such as the controlsystem of FIG. 1 a), an addressee database 22 and a bin module 20 whichis shown in further detail in FIG. 5 b to include individual sort bins18. While eight sort bins 18 are shown in FIG. 5 b it should beunderstood that the number of sort bins 18 can be varied according tothe needs of a sort plan used for determining the destination bin foreach of the mailpieces 30 in the stack.

In an alternate embodiment, shown with dashed lines, a sanitization room40 can contain the feeder 10, singulator 12 and sanitizer 13 and a cleanroom 42 can include transporter 16, scanner 14, control 100 withdatabase 22 and bin module 20. Other configurations for separatingsections of the system 150 into sanitization area 40 and clean area 42could be performed. The purpose of separating components of the systemis to minimize exposure to and contain possible harmful elements thatare emitted from or are in the mail stream. Operators stationed in thesanitization area 40 can be outfitted with personal protective equipmentsuch as respirators, lab coats and protective clothing, eye and faceprotection and gloves. The clean room 42 is configured so that air flowbetween the clean room 42 and the sanitization area 40 is from the cleanroom 42 to the sanitization area 40 (thus the sanitation area has anegative pressure as compared to the clean room). The direction of airflow from clean room 42 to sanitization area 40 is shown by arrow A.Appropriate filtration and sealing can be provided in transition area 43of the feed path F that is a passage between the clean room 42 andsanitization area 42. A containment module (not shown), for example, canbe placed around that area with filtration devices and an opening alongthe feed path F to accommodate the largest mailpiece which can be sortedby the system. Operators of the sanitization room can be trained inappropriate safety practices including entrance and exit protocol,biohazard containment and proper attire.

Sanitizer 13, in addition to including sanitizing apparatus (showngenerally as 13 a and 13 b with a sanitization area 44 denoted generallyas a dashed line between modules 13 a and 13 b) described below can beconfigured in such a way as to transport singulated mailpieces past asanitization area 44. This can be done for example using a configurationas shown in FIG. 5 c which includes a transport belt 45 for movingmailpieces and conveyor. In the sanitizer 13, the mailpieces 30 aredriven along their bottom edges by a transport belt 45 along feed pathF. The gap D between the guide walls 46 a and 46 b and 47 a and 47 ballows that the frictional forces between the mailpieces are almostnonexistent. Since the frictional forces tend to cause multi-mailpiecefeeds, this configuration helps to prevent multi-mailpiece feeds fromoccurring. Furthermore, the sanitizing station acts as a buffer allowingmailpieces to deskew or register onto the transport belt 45. Subsequentto passage through the sanitizing station 13 the individual mailpiecesare transported into the next segment of the system 150, the transportstation 16.

In the preferred embodiment, the distance D between guide walls 46 a–band 47 a–b is approximately 28 millimeters. This allows for the passageof ¾″ thick mailpieces. However, other mailpiece thicknessspecifications and distances may be used. The minimum distance may bedetermined by the specification of the maximum width of mailpieces to bepassed along the document feed path F. Additionally, the distance isdetermined by the minimum angle that the smallest mailpiece would havewith respect to the transport belt 45 when leaning against guide walls46 a–b or 47 a–b. The angle, if too small, would cause the mailpiece tolean below the sanitization area.

In an alternate embodiment (illustrated in FIG. 5 d), instead of guidewalls, vertically oriented transport belts 48 a–b and verticallyoriented transport belts 49 a–b are positioned parallel to and on eachside of the transport belt 45 along feed path F. The vertically orientedbelts are driven in the direction of the feed path F and serve to movethe mailpieces along the feed path F as well as provide support for themailpieces in a similar fashion to the guide walls 46 a–b and 47 a–b. Anexpanded view of a typical configuration for vertically orientedtransport belts 49 a–b is shown in FIG. 5 e. A similar configuration maybe used for vertically oriented transport belts 48 a–b.

The sanitizer 13 for sanitizing mailpieces can include, for example,technology for killing biohazardous material such as Anthrax, containedin mailpieces 30 by means of microwave technology, irradiation,ultraviolet light, ozone, chemical mist or other technology that willkill the biohazardous material in the mailpiece without harming theletter/material content of the mailpiece).

FIG. 6 illustrates an embodiment of the system 151 of the presentinvention for sanitizing mail. The system 151 is a less costly systemthan that of system 150 since the system 151 does not include sortationcomponents such as a sort plan, OCR system 14 and bin modules 20. Thesystem 151 comprises a separation module 9 which includes feeder 10 andsingulator 12. Down stream of separation module 9, along feed path F issanitizer 13 followed by output module 17 for collecting the sanitizedmailpieces 30. The sanitizer 13 for sanitizing mailpieces can include,for example, technology for killing biohazardous material such asAnthrax, contained in mailpieces 30 by means of microwave technology,irradiation, ultraviolet light, ozone, chemical mist or other technologythat will kill the biohazardous material in the mailpiece withoutharming the letter/material content of the mailpiece). The output module17 could be for example, a cart, a bucket, a stacker such as ahorizontal or vertical stacker or other suitable component. Alternately,the diverter and stacker modules can be integrated.

In the present embodiment of the system of the present invention wheremailpieces are moved along the feed path F in a vertical or on edgeorientation, the output or collection module 17 could be an on-edge mailstacking system comprising a transport followed by various stackingmechanisms. Generally, a multi-bin on-edge stacking system includesgating mechanisms which divert specific mailpieces into predeterminedstacker bins (not shown). Typically, mailpieces are transportedvertically along a dual belt transport system, deflected into a stackerbin by a deflector mechanism, and guided into the bin by conventionalguide and urging components. The objective of mail stacking systems isto produce one or more bundles of mailpieces.

In an alternate embodiment, shown with dashed lines, the sanitizationroom 40 can contain the separation module 9 (including feeder 10 andsingulator 12) and sanitizer 13 and the clean room 42 can include outputmodule 17. Other configurations for separating sections of the system150 into sanitization area 40 and clean area 42 could be performed. Thepurpose of separating components of the system is to minimize exposureto and contain possible harmful elements that are emitted from or are inthe mail stream. Clean room technology is explained generally above,note that in FIG. 6 the direction of air flow is from clean room 42 tosanitization area 40 and is shown by arrow A.

System for Detecting the Presence of Harmful Materials in Mail

FIGS. 7 a–b illustrates embodiments of the system 152 of the presentinvention for detecting life harming substances in mail and divertingsuch mail from the mail stream. The system 152 comprises a feeder 10,singulator 12, detector 23 for detecting the presence of harmfulmaterials, diverter 24 for diverting mailpieces for which the presenceof life harming materials has been detected (hereinafter harmfulmailpieces). The diverter 24 diverts the harmful mailpieces tocollection module 25 and is typically configured such that a finger orvan (not shown) diverts mailpieces from the feed path F to an outsorting path O. Mailpieces for which no presence of life harmingmaterials has been detected (hereinafter clean mailpieces) remain alongfeed path F and continue through transporter 16 to appropriate sort bin18 (shown in FIG. 7 b) of bin module 20. In an alternate embodiment ofthe present invention, multiple diverters and stackers can be used suchthat each diverter is designated for diverting a particular category ofmailpiece. As described above the control system 100, addressee database22 (the addressee database has various fields that contain addresseeinformation including for example an addressee name field and anassociated addressee location field) and a sort plan are used to make adetermination of the appropriate sort bin 18 (associated with theaddressee location field) for delivery of the mailpiece.

Alternately, the diverter and stacker modules can be integrated. In thepresent embodiment of the system of the present invention wheremailpieces are moved along the feed path in a vertical or on edgeorientation, the output or collection module 17 could be an on-edge mailstacking system comprising a transport followed by various stackingmechanisms. Generally, a multi-bin on-edge stacking system includesgating mechanisms which divert specific mailpieces into predeterminedstacker bins (not shown). Typically, mailpieces are transportedvertically along a dual belt transport system, deflected into a stackerbin by a deflector mechanism, and guided into the bin by conventionalguide and urging components. The objective of mail stacking systems isto produce one or more bundles of mailpieces.

In an alternate embodiment, shown with dashed lines, the detection room41 can contain the feeder 10, singulator 12 and sanitizer 13 and theclean room 42 can include transporter 16, scanner 14, control 100 withaddressee database 22 and bin module 20. Other configurations forseparating sections of the system 152 into detection room 41 and cleanroom 42 could be performed. The purpose of separating components of thesystem is to minimize exposure to and contain possible harmful elementsthat are emitted from or are in the mail stream. Operators stationed inthe sanitization area 40 can be outfitted with personal protectiveequipment such as respirators, lab coats and protective clothing, eyeand face protection and gloves. The clean room 42 is configured so thatair flow between the clean room 42 and the detection room 41 is from theclean room 42 to the detection room 41 (thus the detection room 41 has anegative pressure as compared to the clean room 42). The direction ofair flow from clean room 42 to detection room 41 is shown by arrow A.Appropriate filtration and sealing can be provided in transition area 43of the feed path F that is a passage between the clean room 42 anddetection room 41. A containment module (not shown), for example, can beplaced around that area with filtration devices and an opening along thefeed path F to accommodate the largest mailpiece which can be sorted bythe system. Operators of the detection room 41 can be trained inappropriate safety practices including entrance and exit protocol,biohazard containment and proper attire.

The detector 23 can be configured similarly to the sanitizers of FIGS. 5c and 5 d so as to move mailpieces along feed path F the gap betweenwalls or vertically oriented belts. Detection occurs in area 44 betweencomponents 13 a and 13 b which in this embodiment are detectionapparatus. The detector be configured to detect for example biohazardousmaterials or explosives. The output module 25 could be for example, acart, a bucket, a biohazardous materials container, a stacker such as ahorizontal or vertical stacker (the general components of a stacker forhandling mixed sized mailpieces are described U.S. Pat. No. 6,161,830titled METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR STACKING MIXED MAIL issued to Yap onDec. 19, 2000, assigned to the assignee of the present invention andherein incorporated by reference) or other suitable component such as abin for containing biohazardous materials or an explosives container.

In an alternate embodiment shown in FIGS. 8 a–b, the detector can be anx-ray module 23 a. X-ray technology can be used to screen mailpieces forsuspicious content. X-rays generally indicate the density of materialscontained in the article being x-rayed. An x-ray of a mailpiece can beused, for example, to detect materials such as powders, plastics,electronics and wires or other potentially life threatening materials. Amethod can be used to interpret an x-ray of the mailpieces byinterpreting the x-ray image. If the x-ray image contains portions thatare interpreted to be suspect, then the system can divert the mailpieceto collection module 25. The system 152 of FIG. 8 a can also include thedetection room 41 and clean room 42 configuration described above, withair flow between the detection room and the clean room shown generallywith arrow A.

The present invention provides detection of harmful materials anddiversion of mailpieces suspected of containing harmful materials fromthe mailstream. It does not address the issue of cross contamination ofthe mailpieces. It is assumed that since detection is performed aftermailpieces have been singulated that if mailpieces have been crosscontaminated, the contamination will be detected for each individualmailpiece as it passes through detection module 23.

System and Method for Outsorting Suspect Mail from a Mail Stream

FIGS. 9 a–b illustrate an embodiment of the system of the presentinvention for detecting or predicting suspect mailpieces in a mailstream and diverting such mailpieces from delivery. FIG. 9 c illustratesan embodiment of the method the present invention for detecting orpredicting suspect mailpieces in a mail stream and diverting suchmailpieces from delivery.

FIG. 9 a illustrates a system 153 for detecting (or predicting) and outsorting suspect mail from a mail stream. The system 153 includes afeeder 10, singulator 12, transporter 16, optical character recognition(OCR) scanner 14, video scanner 15, control system 100, addresseedatabase 22 for use with a sort plan and a suspect database 26 thatincludes criteria for determining whether a mailpiece is suspected ofcontaining life harming substances. The suspect database is used in themethod illustrated in FIG. 9 c for detecting suspect mailpieces in amail stream and diverting such mailpieces from delivery. Downstream fromthe transporter 16 along the feed path F, the diverter module 24 ispositioned to divert mailpieces into collection module 25. The diverter24 diverts the suspect mailpieces to collection module 25 and istypically configured such that a finger or van (not shown) divertsmailpieces from the feed path F to an out sorting path O. Collectionmodule 25 could be for example, a cart, a bucket, a biohazardousmaterials container, a stacker such as a horizontal or vertical stacker(the general components of a stacker for handling mixed sized mailpiecesare described U.S. Pat. No. 6,161,830 titled METHOD AND APPARATUS FORSTACKING MIXED MAIL issued to Yap on Dec. 19, 2000, assigned to theassignee of the present invention and herein incorporated by reference)or other suitable component such as a bin for containing biohazardousmaterials or an explosives container. Bin module 20 is positioneddownstream from diverter 24 for collecting trusted mailpieces inappropriate bins 18 (shown in FIG. 9 b) as determined by the sort plan.

In an alternate embodiment of the present invention, multiple divertersand stackers can be used such that each diverter is designated fordiverting a particular category of mailpiece.

Alternately, the diverter and stacker modules can be integrated. In thepresent embodiment of the system of the present invention wheremailpieces are moved along the feed path F in a vertical or on edgeorientation, the output or collection module 17 could be an on-edge mailstacking system comprising a transport followed by various stackingmechanisms. Generally, a multi-bin on-edge stacking system includesgating mechanisms which divert specific mailpieces into predeterminedstacker bins (not shown). Typically, mailpieces are transportedvertically along a dual belt transport system, deflected into a stackerbin by a deflector mechanism, and guided into the bin by conventionalguide and urging components. The objective of mail stacking systems isto produce one or more bundles of mailpieces.

In an alternate embodiment, shown with dashed lines, the detection room41 can contain the feeder 10, singulator 12, transporter 16, OCR scanner14, video scanner 15, control 100 with addressee database 22 and suspectdatabase 26, and diverter module 25 connected to collection module 25.The clean room 42 can include bin module 20. Other configurations forseparating sections of the system 153 into detection room 41 and cleanroom 42 could be performed. The purpose of separating components of thesystem 153 is to minimize exposure to and contain possible harmfulelements that are emitted from or are in the mail stream. Air flowbetween the detection room 41 and the clean room 40 is shown generallywith arrow A. The purpose of separating components of the system 153 isto limit exposure to and contain possible harmful elements that areemitted from or are in the mail stream. Operators stationed in thesanitization area 40 can be outfitted with personal protective equipmentsuch as respirators, lab coats and protective clothing, eye and faceprotection and gloves. The clean room 42 is configured so that air flowbetween the clean room 42 and the detection room 41 is from the cleanroom 42 to the detection room 41 (thus the detection room 41 has anegative pressure as compared to the clean room 42). Appropriatefiltration and sealing can be provided in transition area 43 of the feedpath F that is a passage between the clean room 42 and detection room41. A containment module (not shown), for example, can be placed aroundthat area with filtration devices and an opening along the feed path Fto accommodate the largest mailpiece which can be sorted by the system.Operators of the sanitization room can be trained in appropriate safetypractices including entrance and exit protocol, biohazard containmentand proper attire.

FIG. 9 c illustrates an embodiment of the method of the presentinvention for detecting or predicting suspect mailpieces in a mailstream and diverting such mailpieces from delivery. At step S200 themethod begins. At step S202 a stack of mailpieces (not shown) is placedon the feeder 10 of the system 153 and the feeder 10 is set to autofeed. At step S204 the mailpieces 30 are moved along the feed path F anda leading mailpiece is obtained from the singulating device. At stepS206 the mailpiece 30 is read using OCR scanner 14 and/or video scanner15. At step S208 information read from the mailpiece is compared toinformation in suspect database 26. The suspect database containsvarious criteria such as the criteria described above (under the headingSUSPECT/HARMFUL MAILPIECES) for determining a suspect mailpiece. Thesystem 153 also comprises software for performing the decision makingprocess as to whether the mailpiece is suspect, such as is asked in thequery of step S210. The software can be written such that when it isdetermined that a mailpiece meets a particular percentage of thecriteria stored in suspect database 26 then the mailpiece is concludedto be suspect.

Tape on the mailpiece could be detected with an optical scanner whichcomprises a light source, a lens and sensor (not shown) integrated intothe document scanner module. The optical scanner can be a PI200MC-Cmodule manufactured by Peripheral Imaging Corporation of San Jose,Calif. The optical scanner has high accuracy of about 200 to 300 dpi.The optical scanner is able to scan a variety of mailpieces and isconnected to a system controller 100 which processes informationoutputted by the scanner. The optical scanner could sense the tape area,such as a shiny or matte area of the envelope, by detecting the opticaldifference between the tape area and the non-tape area. The tapemodifies the surface characteristics of the mailpiece, resulting in adifference in optical response as detected by the sensor.

If it is determined at the query of step S210 that the mailpiece is notsuspect, then at step S210 a the system 153 uses addressee database 22and a sort plan to determine the appropriate bin 18 for delivery ofmailpiece. This determination is not the subject of the presentinvention and is made generally as follows: 1) the system 153 makes acomparison of information obtained by the OCR system with the addresseedatabase 22 to attempt to find an addressee match; 2) a query is made asto whether an addressee match has been made; 3) if an addressee matchhas been made, the mailpiece is delivered to appropriate bin 18; and 4)if an addressee match has not been made, mailpiece are delivered to, forexample a reject bin 18 a. Reject mailpieces may be processed furtherusing other methods such as, for example, video coding or voicerecognition. At step S210 b the mailpiece, which could be for exampletrusted mailpiece trusted mailpiece 30 b as illustrated in FIGS. 2 c–d,is delivered to the appropriate sort bin 18.

Returning to the query of step S210, if the answer to the query is yesthen the mailpiece is suspect and at step S212 the mailpiece is divertedto collection module 25 (described above) by diverter 24. In analternate embodiment, shown with dashed lines, when the mailpiece isdetermined to be suspect at step S210, then at step S211 anidentification (ID) code 32 (shown in FIG. 2 a) is printed on themailpiece and may be read in subsequent sorting passes. The printing isperformed using a printer module 11 situated along the feed path F ofthe system 153 upstream from diverter 24. The printer module 11 is shownwith dashed lines in FIG. 9 a. In the alternate embodiment, after stepS211, the suspect mailpiece 30 a is diverted to collection module 25(described above) by diverter 24.

Steps S211, S212 and S210 b are each followed by step S214 where a queryis made as to whether there are more mailpieces to be processed. If theanswer to the query of step S214 is yes, then steps S204 through S212are repeated as appropriate until there are no more mailpieces to beprocessed. If the answer to the query of step S214 is no, then at stepS218 the method ends.

In an alternate embodiment, shown with dashed lines, after the query ofstep S214 if there are no more mailpieces to be processed then at stepS215 a suspect mailpieces are retrieved from the diverter collection binand delivered to a sanitization/processing area (not shown) (or thediverter collection bin containing the suspect mailpieces is transportedto a sanitization/processing area). The sanitization/processing area isconfigured to process mailpieces such, for example to biohazardousmaterial in the mailpiece and is described above in the description ofsystem 153. Next at step S215 b the suspect mailpieces aresanitized/processed. Following sanitization/processing, the mailpiecesdetermined to be safe can be resorted for delivery to the appropriatebin 18, such determination is made using addressee database 22 and thesort plan. Next at step S218 the method ends.

In another alternate embodiment, shown with dashed lines, at step S217 aan image of the suspect mailpiece is sent to a video coding terminal 19(shown with dashed lines in FIG. 9 a). Next at step S217 b, an operatorof the video coding terminal 19 makes a final determination as to thesuspect status of the mailpiece. The query is made to the operator atstep S217 c as to whether the mailpiece is suspect. If the operatordetermines the mailpiece to be suspect, such information is tagged tothe mailpiece ID code 32 (which was printed in alternate step S211 ontothe suspect mailpiece 30 a). If the operators determines that themailpiece is not suspect, then at step S217 e the operator tags themailpiece ID code 32 (printed in alternate step S211) to indicatenon-suspect mailpiece/delivery to appropriate bin. At step S217 ffollowing steps S217 d and steps S217 e, a query is made as to whetherthere are more images to be processed. If the answer to the query ofstep S217 f is yes, then steps S217 a–e are repeated as appropriate. Ifthe answer the query of S217 f is no, then at step S217 g the suspectmailpieces are resorted for delivery as indicated by information taggedto the mailpiece ID code 32 in steps S217 d or S217 e

An additional feature of the present invention is recordation ofaddressee and sender information for suspect mailpieces and recordationof suspect criteria for which the mailpiece was determined to besuspect. A video image of the mailpiece can also be stored with thesuspect information. Such information can be used by law enforcementpersonnel to attempt to determine the origin of the mailpieces.Additional information such as the time and date of sort or receipt,recipient information and sender information, cancellation zip code canalso be stored. Such information could later be used as additionalsuspect criteria. Additionally, the system 153 could be connected to,for example, the USPS, a private investigator or law enforcementagencies so that information such as a video image of the suspectmailpiece 30 a or data obtained from the mailpiece could be transmittedto such investigation entity 28 and possibly stored in a database 28 abelonging to the investigation entity 28.

The present invention provides a system and method for helping to deterdelays in the mail delivery. Another additional advantage of the presentinvention is that the negative impact of delayed mail delivery isreduced. It further provides the ability to protect recipients receiptof life threatening mailpieces. While the present invention has beendisclosed and described with reference to a single embodiment thereof,it will be apparent, as noted above that variations and modificationsmay be made therein. It is, thus, intended in the following claims tocover each variation and modification that falls within the true spiritand scope of the present invention.

1. A system for sorting mailpiece and detecting the presence of harmfulmaterials in the mailpieces, the system comprising: a detection room,including a component for singulating and feeding a mailpiece along afeed path of the system; a detection module positioned downstream of thecomponent for singulating and feeding the mailpiece, the detectionmodule for detecting the presence of harmful material in the mailpiece;and a diverter for diverting the mailpiece into a collection module ifharmful material is detected by the detection module as being present inthe mailpiece; a clean room adjacent to the detection room including asystem for reading the mailpiece and determining a destination bin ifthe detection module does not detect the presence of harmful material inthe mailpiece; and a bin module comprising two or more destination binsfor receiving a mailpiece after a destination bin has been determined bythe system for reading the mailpiece and determining the destinationbin, wherein air flows from the clean room to the detection room.
 2. Thesystem as claimed in claim 1 wherein the system for reading themailpiece and determining a destination bin comprises: a control systemfor providing processing of information read from the mailpiece and anaddressee database for providing addressee information which is comparedto information read from the mailpiece in order to determine theappropriate addressee and destination bin for the mailpiece.
 3. Thesystem as claimed in claim 1 wherein the detection module comprises: afirst set of guide walls, each guide wall in the first set of guidewalls positioned parallel to the feed path and facing the other guidewall forming an alley along the feed path; a second set of guide wallspositioned down stream of the first set of guide walls along the feedpath and forming a gap along the feed path between the first set ofguide walls and the second set of guide walls, each guide wall in thesecond set of guide walls positioned parallel to the feed path andfacing the other guide wall forming an alley along the feed path; and adetection apparatus positioned along the feed path in the area of thegap along the feed path between the first set of guide walls and thesecond set of guide walls.
 4. The system as claimed in claim 3 andwhereby the presence of harmful material in the mailpiece is detected asthe mailpiece passes by the gap along the feed path between the firstset of guide walls and the second set of guide walls.
 5. The system asclaimed in claim 3 wherein the detection apparatus comprises at leastone apparatus from the group comprising: an x-ray apparatus, a laser, aninfrared spectrascope or a scanner.
 6. The system as claimed in claim 3wherein at least a portion of the feed path comprises a transport beltwhich travels along an edge of the first set guide walls and an edge ofthe second set of guide walls.
 7. The system as claimed in claim 1wherein the detection module comprises: a first set of first and seconddriven belts, each driven belt in the first set of driven beltspositioned parallel to the feed path and facing the other driven beltand forming an alley along the feed path; a second set of first andsecond driven belts positioned down stream of the first set of first andsecond driven belts along the feed path and forming a gap along the feedpath between the first set of first and second driven belts and thesecond set of first and second driven belts, each driven belt in thesecond set of driven belts positioned parallel to the feed path andfacing the other driven belt forming an alley along the feed path; and adetection apparatus positioned along the feed path in the area of thegap along the feed path between the first set of driven belts and thesecond set of driven belts.
 8. The system as claimed in claim 7 whereinthe detection apparatus comprises at least one apparatus for the groupconsisting of: an x-ray apparatus, a laser, an infrared spectrascope anda scanner.
 9. The system as claimed in claim 7 wherein at least aportion of the feed path comprises a transport belt which travels alongan edge of the first set of first and second driven belts and the secondset of first and second driven belts.
 10. The system as claimed in claim1 further comprising: a detection area, the detection area containingthe component for singulating and feeding a mailpiece, the detectionmodule and the collection module.